Threats of attack sparks new calls to move Camp Liberty residents back to Ashraf

Published on 26 February 2013.

NCRI – The leader of an Iraqi group loyal to the Iranian regime has vowed to carry out further attacks on the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) - sparking more urgent calls to move vulnerable Camp Liberty residents back to Ashraf.

Mullah Wathiq al-Batat, leader of the Iraqi Hezbollah and Mukhtar Army who is based in city of Najaf has warned he will inflict a 'second crippling blow' on the PMOI and that he considered killing them to be his 'religious and ethical duty'.

Al-Batat told international Arabic language newspapers Al Hayat and Asharq-al-Awsat that he was under the command of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei - who is known to be working with Nouri Al-Maliki's government in Baghdad.

Al-Batat was quoted as saying: "We will inflict a second crippling blow on the PMOI and we consider striking and killing them as a religious and ethical duty, and we will target them again in near future."

His threats come after the deadly bomb attacks on Camp Liberty on February 9 that left seven dead and 100 injured.

Al-Batat said: "I am a faithful to the rule of the Velayat-e-faqih that Mr Khamenei represents. Hezbollah is a follower of Khamenei and we are committed to him as our leader and look to him on military and political issues.

"All Hezbollah branches across the world are in touch with the office of the Supreme Leader and Mr Khamenei. I am the regional representative of Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-Alawi Al-Gorgani, whose permanent residence is in Qom, and I am the director of his office in Najaf."

Al-Batat warned he would target 'those who want to distance Shiism from the state' and promised to hit back hard at Kurds in Iraq and Kuwait if they attempted to stray into Iraqi territory.

He told the newspapers that he had a master's degree in military science from Tehran University and had carried out 1200 operations against Americans. He had also attacked Kuwait's port Mubarak and admitted he had an ongoing relationship with Al-Qaeda.

And in an admission that exposes the Iranian regime and the terrorist Quds Force's links to Al-Qaeda, he added: "We occasionally contact them to get information in return for money."

He also boasted he wanted to invade Saudi Arabia with the aim of one day praying in Mecca - known as Haramein Al-Sharif.

A statement by Iranian resistance said: "These remarks clearly show the goal of forcible displacement of Ashraf residents to Camp Liberty was their annihilation and today their protection and safety is top priority.

"To prevent further catastrophes, the only immediate and available option is their transfer to Camp Ashraf, and the US and UN should focus all their efforts to this end.

"Any delay in doing so under whatever pretext is unacceptable because a repeat of the catastrophe and a fourth massacre is quite possible at any moment, and no excuse from the US or the UN or any other party will be acceptable."

The Iranian Resistance said it revealed on February 13 that the February 9 rocket attack on Liberty was carried out on the orders of Khamenei and the mullahs’ Supreme National Security Council.

The statement added: "The responsibility for the implementation of the operation and the coordination with the Iraqi government was given to the terrorist Quds Force and the Iranian regime’s Embassy in Baghdad.

"The operating group was from 'Kata'ib Hezbollah' or the Hezbollah Brigades death squads and Quds agents. These squads were created by the mullahs' regime and in coordination with the Iraqi government they target anyone in Iraq that the Iranian regime chooses.

"The Mukhtar Army declared its existence on February 4, five days before to the missile attack on Camp Liberty. According to reports by Iraqi media and news agencies, it held a military parade in Sana’e club in Baghdad a few hours after it announced its links with the Iraqi army and police."

The name Mukhtar – (the one how will revenge) - is a reference to Maliki. Asharq-Al-Awsat wrote on February 11: "In slogans shouted in support of Maliki, they describe him as the 'Mukhtar of our time'.”